A gas turbine engine may include a turbine section with multiple rows or stages of stator vanes and rotor blades that interact or react with a high temperature gas flow to create mechanical power. In a gas turbine engine, the turbine rotor blades drive the compressor and an electric generator to generate electrical power. These stator vanes and rotor blades are cooled by cooling holes through the surface of the vanes and blades.
The efficiency of the engine can be increased by passing a higher temperature gas flow through the turbine. However, the turbine inlet temperature is limited by the vane and blade (airfoils) material properties and the cooling capabilities of these airfoils. The temperature of the gas flow passing through the turbine progressively decreases as the rotor blade stages extract energy from the gas flow.